The Most Influential People Across History
Find the most influential people in 24 academic disciplines and numerous subdisciplines
Find famous and important people related to your research. This is an excellent tool for research papers, topic papers, and building a bibliography. Using our influence-based algorithm, our rankings synthesize data from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.
Students and researchers now have a fast and reliable way to find influential thinkers from 24 disciplines and 300 sub-disciplines (and growing). If you want to find history’s most influential philsosophers, or the world’s most influential mathematicians currently, now you can.
We also provide custom rankings of people by discipline as well as interviews with influential academics who are currently active.
To use this tool, select the discipline (and optional subdiscipline) relevant to your research, and specify influential academics by history, world, or US. Even results that are counterintuitive are often enlightening (our algorithm always picks up a signal).
Methodology: How and Why We Rank by Influence …
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List of the most influential people in Biology,
#8801
Ruth Empson
#98921
Overall Influence
Ruth Mary Empson is a New Zealand physiology academic, and as of 2019 is a full professor at the University of Otago. Academic career After a 1993 PhD titled 'Primary and secondary epileptic foci from hippocampus and neocortex in the tetanus toxin model of chronic epilepsy' at the University of London, Empson moved to the University of Otago, rising to full professor.
Go to Profile#8802
Elisa Granato
#130459
Overall Influence
1988 - Present (38 years)
Elisa Teresa Granato is a molecular microbiologist in the Departments of Zoology and Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, where she researches bacterial interactions and how they evolved, including the significance of features of bacteria that contribute to disease, also known as virulence factors.
Go to Profile#8803
Wade G. Regehr
#132208
Overall Influence
#8804
Willem van Eelen
#88904
Overall Influence
1923 - 2015 (92 years)
Willem Frederik van Eelen was a Dutch researcher and businessperson, who pioneered the creation and development of cultured meat. He is recognized as one of the "godfathers of cultured meat". Biography Van Eelen was born in the Dutch East Indies in 1923, the son of a doctor. He served in the army in Indonesia during the Second World War. Following the loss of the Dutch colony to the Japanese, Van Eelen was captured and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner. His experiences of cruelty and hardship in multiple prisoner of war camps informed his later perception of the world.
Go to Profile#8805
Patricia Glibert
#131964
Overall Influence
Patricia Marguerite Glibert is marine scientist known for her research on nutrient use by phytoplankton and harmful algal blooms in Chesapeake Bay. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Go to Profile#8806
R. Robertson Young
#132227
Overall Influence
#8807
David A. A. Mossel
#132237
Overall Influence
#8808
Susana Martinez-Conde
#78727
Overall Influence
1969 - Present (57 years)
Susana Martinez-Conde is a Spanish-American neuroscientist and science writer. She is a professor of ophthalmology, neurology, physiology, and pharmacology at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where she directs the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience. She directed laboratories previously at the Barrow Neurological Institute and University College London. Her research bridges perceptual, cognitive, and oculomotor neuroscience. She is best known for her studies on illusions, eye movements and perception, neurological disorders, and attentional misdirection in stage magic.
Go to Profile#8809
Jon Stoessl
#92937
Overall Influence
Alexander Jon Stoessl is a Canadian neurologist and Parkinson's disease researcher. He is the director of the Pacific Parkinson's Research Centre and Parkinson's Foundation Centre of Excellence at the University of British Columbia . He is also the head of the division of neurology at this university. He is currently the President of the World Parkinson Coalition.
Go to Profile#8810
Takao Yamamuro
#132267
Overall Influence
#8811
Syozo Osawa
#132275
Overall Influence
#8812
Eui-Cheol Shin
#33849
Overall Influence
Eui-Cheol Shin is a Korean medical immunologist, academic, and author. He is a professor at the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology , and director of The Center for Viral Immunology at the Institute for Basic Science , a Korean government-funded research institute.
Go to Profile#8813
David Fish
#67252
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
David Eli Fish is an American physiatrist and one of the editors of a popular PM&R handbook PM&R Pocketpedia. Education After completing a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2001, Fish completed additional training as a clinical fellow in pain medicine at UCLA School of Medicine. Fish is a Professor in the Orthopaedic Department Clinic at UCLA School of Medicine.
Go to Profile#8814
Carl Sharsmith
#93344
Overall Influence
1903 - 1994 (91 years)
Carl William Sharsmith was an American naturalist and Yosemite park ranger, notable for his knowledge and interpretation of the natural history of the Sierra Nevada. He taught botany at various universities, and was the first botanist to comprehensively document the alpine flora of the high Sierra Nevada.
Go to Profile#8815
Ulf Ryde
#132302
Overall Influence
#8816
Bruce Baker
#123950
Overall Influence
1945 - 2018 (73 years)
Bruce Stewart Baker was an American geneticist. Baker was born to William K. Baker and Margaret I. Stewart in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on December 20, 1945, while his father served in the United States military. The first Drosophila Research Conference was hosted by his parents in 1958. Baker attended high school in Chicago. He enrolled at Reed College prior to graduating, and earned his bachelor's degree in 1966. Baker then pursued graduate study at the University of Washington under Larry Sandler, receiving his doctorate in 1971. Baker remained at UW alongside Sandler before working with James F.
Go to Profile#8817
Richard H. Quarles
#132309
Overall Influence
#8818
James Beament
#100196
Overall Influence
1921 - 2005 (84 years)
Sir James William Longman Beament was a British scientist who studied insect physiology and psychoacoustics. He has been described as "an international authority" on "the structure and waterproofing of insect eggs".
Go to Profile#8819
Kenneth A. Nagy
#132321
Overall Influence
#8820
Hans-helmut Kornhuber
#132327
Overall Influence
#8821
Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh
#103844
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (74 years)
Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh is a Professor of Plant Science at the University of Washington. She has served as the President of the society for Plant Signaling and Behavior. Early life and education Van Volkenburgh was born to Robert Heber and Jean Brown in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Van Volkenburgh became interested in biology during high school. She studied botany at Duke University, and earned her Bachelor's degree in 1973. She was most interested in plant physiology and biochemical function. She nearly majored in economics because her mother recommended education that might lead to a paying job like being a lawyer or economist, but found that she learned better the life sciences.
Go to Profile#8822
Stephen Jay Gould
#132352
Overall Influence
#8823
Bartholomew.m. Sefton
#132355
Overall Influence
#8824
Graziella Pellegrini
#94907
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (65 years)
Graziella Pellegrini is an Italian Professor of Cell Biology and the Cell Therapy Program Coordinator at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. She has developed and championed cell therapy protocols in hospitals across Italy.
Go to Profile#8825
Peter H. Sugden
#132362
Overall Influence
#8826
R. C. Sharma
#132389
Overall Influence
#8827
Charles W. Stratton
#132408
Overall Influence
#8828
Norbert Pfennig
#132416
Overall Influence
#8829
David Werring
#104040
Overall Influence
David John Werring is a British physician, neurologist, and academic specialising in stroke. He is professor of Neurology at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and current head of Stroke Research Centre and the department of Brain Repair & Rehabilitation at UCL.
Go to Profile#8830
Warren M. Grill
#132427
Overall Influence
#8831
Allison J. Doupe
#119075
Overall Influence
1954 - 2014 (60 years)
Allison Jane Doupe was a Canadian psychiatrist, biologist, and neuroscientist. She is best known for her pioneering work in avian neurobiology that linked birdsong to human language, showing that birds and humans learn to communicate in similar ways. In 2014, Doupe was awarded the Pradel Research Award by the National Academy of Sciences for her work on neural circuits and information processing in songbirds.
Go to Profile#8832
Mufti Nurunnessa Khatun
#103603
Overall Influence
1939 - 1997 (58 years)
Mufti Nurunnessa Khatun Sylheti: ꠝꠥꠚꠔꠤ ꠘꠥꠞꠥꠘ꠆ꠘꠦꠍꠣ ꠈꠣꠔꠥꠘ was a Bangladeshi writer, academic, and botanist. Early life Khatun was born on 31 December 1939 in Sylhet, Assam, British Raj. She lived in Shillong during her childhood. In 1947 she moved to Sylhet, the same year Sylhet was joined to East Bengal to become part of the future state of Pakistan through the Sylhet referendum. She graduated from Government Girls' School in Sylhet in 1953. She graduated from Murari Chand College after completing her ISc and BSc. She did her MSc in Mycology and Phytopathology from the University of Dhaka.
Go to Profile#8833
Rona M. M. Mackie
#132448
Overall Influence
#8834
Julijana Gjorgjieva
#104872
Overall Influence
1983 - Present (43 years)
Julijana Gjorgjieva is a Macedonian-German professor of computational neuroscience at the Technical University of Munich and a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research. Her laboratory studies neural circuit formation.
Go to Profile#8835
Abdoulaye Djimdé
#105266
Overall Influence
Abdoulaye Djimdé is an associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology in Mali. He works on the genetic epidemiology of antimalarial drug resistance and is a Wellcome Sanger Institute International Fellow. He is Chief of the Molecular Epidemiology and Drug Resistance Unit at the University of Bamako Malaria Research and Training Centre.
Go to Profile#8836
Marwan I. Hariz
#132472
Overall Influence
#8837
Mary L. Marazita
#131488
Overall Influence
Mary Louise Marazita is an American geneticist. She is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. Early life and education Marazita was born in Cheboygan, Michigan to parents Philip and Eleanor Marazita. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in animal husbandry from Michigan State University and her PhD in genetics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She wrote her thesis under the guidance of Robert C. Elston. Following her PhD, Marazita completed her post-doctoral training in craniofacial biology at the University of Southern Cali...
Go to Profile#8838
Patricia Miang Lon Ng
#117257
Overall Influence
Patricia Mian Lon Ng is a Singaporean scientist. She is a researcher at the Singapore Immunology Network. Biography Ng holds a Ph.D. degree in cell and molecular biology. She is a research fellow at the Singapore Immunology Network, part of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore.
Go to Profile#8839
Joaquim Mullol
#132480
Overall Influence
#8840
Anthony R. Dickinson
#100386
Overall Influence
1960 - Present (66 years)
Anthony R. Dickinson is a British academic, neuroscientist and a Scientific Advisor at the Beijing Genomics Institute. He specialises in brain development and incremental intelligence training. Life After some years working as a prototype electronics engineer, Dickinson graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in Neuroethology, and continued his studies to obtain a pre-clinical Diploma in Neuroscience and surgery from the Royal School of Veterinary Medicine, at the University of Edinburgh.
Go to Profile#8841
Sarrah Ben M'barek
#117656
Overall Influence
1979 - Present (47 years)
Sarrah Ben M'barek-Ben Romdhane is a Tunisian-Dutch crop researcher. She works on developing fungus-resistant wheat strains to reduce the toll of Mycosphaerella graminicola on yields. Early life and education Ben M'barek was born in Tunisia in 1979. However, she would regularly visit her mother's family in the Netherlands near tree nurseries in Boskoop. Seeing these cultivation centres and wheat plantations in Beja, Tunisia fuelled her interest in plant biology.
Go to Profile#8842
Rainer Greger
#132487
Overall Influence
#8843
Hendrik Vilstrup
#132496
Overall Influence
#8844
Bernd Nidetzky
#132509
Overall Influence
#8845
Ivo L. Hofacker
#132519
Overall Influence
#8846
Nipon Chattipakorn
#132545
Overall Influence
#8847
Glenda MacQueen
#99705
Overall Influence
1965 - 2020 (55 years)
Glenda Marlene MacQueen was a Canadian medical researcher and medical college professor and administrator. She was vice-dean of the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary from 2012 to 2019.
Go to Profile#8848
Iain Macintyre
#81253
Overall Influence
1924 - 2008 (84 years)
Iain Macintyre FRS was a British endocrinologist who made important contributions to the understanding of calcium regulation and bone metabolism. Shortly after the hormone calcitonin had been described by Harold Copp, Macintyre's team was the first to isolate and sequence the hormone and to demonstrate its origin in the parafollicular cells of the thyroid gland. He subsequently analysed its physiological actions. Along with H. R. Morris he isolated and sequenced calcitonin gene-related peptide. Later research centred on the role played by nitric oxide on bone metabolism.
Go to Profile#8849
Douglas Wahlsten
#129805
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (83 years)
Douglas Leon Wahlsten is a Canadian neuroscientist, psychologist, and behavior geneticist. He is a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Alberta. As of 2011, he was also a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in North Carolina, United States. He is known for his laboratory research on the behavior of mice, and for his theoretical writings on a wide range of other topics. His laboratory research has included studies of the effects of different laboratory environments and experimenter characteristics on the results of mouse studies. He and his col...
Go to Profile#8850
Steven M. Podos
#132572
Overall Influence
